CLERMONT, Fla. – A teacher’s assistant was arrested last week after being accused of becoming “aggressive” with a special-needs student at school in Lake County, according to the sheriff’s office.
In an arrest affidavit, a deputy said that officers originally responded to the incident around 1 p.m. on May 6.
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Upon arrival, the deputy spoke with the school’s principal, who advised that three separate staff members had already reported the incident ahead of time, the affidavit reveals.
“It should be noted that [REDACTED] is a special-needs school and that the victim is a nonverbal special-needs student diagnosed with ASD and epilepsy,” the affidavit reads. “The victim utilizes picture exchange for communication, as well as an electronic communication device, and is also known to display attention-seeking behaviors.”
The deputy wrote that he reviewed the video footage of the incident, which showed the teacher’s assistant — identified as Mark McArthy, 60 — escorting the victim while bending the student’s arm backwards in a way that appeared “uncomfortable and unreasonable.”
However, the footage continued, revealing that McArthy pushed the student against he wall several times while also “aggressively getting into the victim’s face,” the affidavit states.
“From another camera angle, the arrestee could be seen throwing the victim against he wall and appearing to place his hand over the victim’s mouth,” the affidavit reads. “At that time, another staff member intervened and assisted in escorting the victim away from the area and out of camera view.”
Investigators said they spoke with McArthy, who claimed that the student had been blowing air and spitting at him, which is what caused him to act so aggressively, the affidavit notes.
Furthermore, McArthy was told to remain in place and not move through the campus while officers investigated, but he continued walking away toward the principal’s office instead, the deputy said.
As a result, McArthy was ultimately taken into custody and now faces charges battery, child abuse and resisting an officer without violence.